I Don't Wanna Leave You
by Dragon with a Shotgun
Summary: More years pass by for young Crystal, and now Splinter thinks she is ready for actual combat with her brothers and himself. She does well, but there's one thing that still bothers her about becoming better at fighting...


**TMNT**

By

Dragon with a Shotgun

**Okay, I know that appearance, personality, and age changes over years, but knowing some people, they don't like to see our beloved ninja turtles change. So, I had imagined that they hadn't changed at all. It's easier that way... I like to pretend that they had never grown older at all… So in the story, they are all still teenagers! :D Enjoy!**

**I Don't Wanna Leave You.**

Another five years had passed for Crystal. Now she was twelve years old, learning to be a ninja and had been for the last five years under the supervision of Splinter and her older brothers, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey. Everybody took part in showing her their fighting styles and techniques, each taking certain days of the weeks. She learned quickly, and took in everything they had said and showed her. She had grown very well. She had also grown up, matured probably more than she should have. But, what do you expect when she lived in the same lair as Splinter? Well… besides how the turtle boys are anyway… But she took things very seriously, especially when it came to fighting.

"Alright, my sons, today will be the first day of serious combat for our young Crystal. She has chosen her weapon, and has been taught how to use it to only her advantage as she is knowledgeable of. Do you still feel ready for this, Crystal?"

The young girl he spoken to stood beside him, a bit taller than when she was seven, her head reaching at least to Mikey's shoulders. Her light blonde hair was longer, reaching the middle of her back and her bangs tucked to the right side, although her hair was in a braid at the moment making it seem shorter. She wore a pink turtleneck long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.

Across from her, her four turtle brothers stood in a line side by side in almost soldier-like poses with their packs straight and blank and stern expressions on their faces. But she could see excitement dance in their different colored orbs as they glanced from Splinter to her.

"Yes Sensei," she nodded, relaxing her body so that her hands were hanging at her sides. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and was anxious to get started. But she remembered what Splinter had said about patience and calmness, and settled down.

Splinter nodded in understanding and looked back to the ninja turtles. "First, Mikey will be your opponent. Then it will rise to Donatello if you succeed in beating Michelangelo, and then to Raphael, and then to Leonardo. Then if you manage to beat all of your opponents, you will go against me."

Crystal blinked in thought at that, looking the turtles up and down to size them up. She studied their weapons, and then took in a deep breath. She'd seen Splinter and her brothers engage in training combat quite a many times, and he'd won every time, with only those few exceptions when he went too easy on them. Would he go easy on her, too? She wondered if she should fight seriously. She didn't want to hurt them, if she could that is. They had been doing this for a much longer time that they had, so she could be beat in the first round. So she didn't worry about it.

"Alright, you may begin!" Splinter said loudly, jerking her out of her thoughts and making her pay attention to the moment.

He had stepped away, and was at the sidelines with the other three turtles. Mikey stood some feet in front of her, grinning one of his classic child-like grins and his eyes lighting up from the excitement. She didn't move and stayed relaxed even as he brought out his Nunchaku and spun them in the air and swung them around himself with a challenging smile.

"C'mon, Sis! Ya gonna make your move?" he urged.

She remained still and silent, and kept her gaze on him like a statue. She watched as he walked closer, testing her reflexes when he jumped every now and then. She still stayed frozen.

"What's the matter? Ya scared that I'm gonna beat ya?" Mikey said, a little impatient with her being so still and calm about this. It was a little odd, but then again Splinter had taken over most of her training over the last three years. To tell the truth, he was a little worried about treating this like a serious battle. He, actually all of the brothers, still considered her their little sister, young and still not yet fully prepared for life. The thought of actually hitting or hurting her made them hesitant to even try to fight at all. This was different from them fighting against themselves, much different in their eyes.

Having enough of her silent treatment, he sprinted at her, running back and forth and swinging his Nunchaku like helicopter blades at his sides. Crystal remained like a statue, and it confused him a little as to why she hadn't made a move yet. But he shook those worries away and continued forward, and he swung one of his spinning weapons toward her.

Before he had a chance to actually hit her, she suddenly ducked backwards, bending her back like a professional gymnastics trainee and dodging his attack. Then she let her legs fall out from under her, caught herself with her hands, and then wrapped her legs around one of his own. Then she twisted her hips down so that he lost his balance and hit the floor with a _thump _and onto his stomach. He then jumped back up, but gasped when he realized that his Nunchaku was missing. He looked at his younger sister, and she held his weapons in her hands, and testingly swung them around herself.

"Hey! No fair!" he said dramatically, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping. How did she do that? He was so sure that he had her beat there for a moment, how did she manage to duck so quickly? And how hadn't she shown any signs that she was about to make a move?

"Excellent job, Crystal! Removing an opponent's weapon will weaken them, especially if they are dependent on those weapons." Splinter informed. This might have been serious training, but all in all it was still practice before she went against actual enemies outside the hideout. So he continued the usual lectures and information bits.

_You're right about dependent… _Mikey thought knowingly. But instead of using his own weapons to her advantage, she threw them to the side out of the ring where he couldn't retrieve them.

"Okay," he said, "Not cool!"

Then she made the next move, running at him and jumping into the air. Then she spun and swung out her foot, catching him across the jaw and stunning him. Him not having his Nunchaku really took his advantage levels down, so he was reduced to using mainly arm blocks. He attempted to throw punches at her, but her being smaller and having less limited movement because of a lack of a shell, she was able to lean and dodge out of the way of the blows.

After about two minutes, he was down on the floor, seeing stars and his eyes crossed in his stunned state.

"Alright, Donatello, you are next." Splinter said as Raph dragged Mikey back to the line.

Donnie took one look at Mikey and smiled, wondering how in the world he had lost to the preteen. But he shrugged and stood up, taking a small bow in understanding and to signal that he was ready for the training. He stepped up to the ring, and he got into a fighting stance as he gazed at the girl with stern and concentrated eyes. He calculated her size, and determined her speed after watching her fight with Mikey. He studied her figure, figuring her flexibility was pretty high.

Crystal was doing the same, but wasn't letting herself become engulfed in her thoughts. She began to walk sideways slightly, not making any sudden twitches or any kinds of movements. Seeing that she was moving, Donnie put all of his thoughts in the back of his head, keeping in mind that he'd have to still be alert of her abilities contributing to her size and speed. Also another thing was bothering him. The thought of her being his little sister still hung in the back of his mind. But he knew better than to let those thoughts bother him.

_But still… I don't want to hurt her… _he kept adding. _Maybe… I can try to go easier on her. Mikey was just bad at predicting her moves. If I can keep track of her tactics, then maybe I can just block them, and then knock her down in a way that won't hurt her, but will mean defeat on her part._

Having made up his mind about what he was going to do, he began to walk in the opposite direction she walked, so that they walked in a small circle, sizing each other up and studying each other's movements.

The look in her eyes was unnatural for a girl as happy and young as her. Jeez, she looked like Leo for crying out loud. Normally, he'd notice the rosy color in her cheeks and the heavenly lightness of her personality. But at that moment, her eyes were not exactly piercing, but more of misty. But he tried his best to ignore the oddly calm expression in her light blue eyes.

To distract himself from her seemingly blank face, he focused on her body's movements. He studied her footsteps, hoping that he's see some kind of slip, twitch, anything that would clue him to her attacks. But nothing showed, nothing gave him a hint.

Then her foot turned irregular from her previous steps. It was barely visible, but he could easily pick it out from her other steps. From previous practices with his brothers, this happened when they were about to run at him, but then dart side to side as they ran at him, confusing him on many occasions. But he wasn't going to let that happen this time.

He positioned himself so that he was completely facing her, and as expected, she moved. She ran toward him, jumping from side to side. Since she jumped off her left foot, he assumed that she'd attack when she landed on her right. That's how his brothers and he did. She darted right to left, and as he had thought, she handed on her right to attack. But just as he lifted his staff to block her attack, she suddenly switched feet, and he hesitated as to how to block or how to attack. Before he had a chance to decided what to do, she had grabbed the end of the staff, and jumped over his shoulder, pulling him down backwards with the weapon still gripped in his hands. He hit the ground on his shell, and he was dazed for a moment before he regained his senses. But in the process of falling, his grip had loosened in his hands, and she slipped it out of his grasp. Now she had the staff weaved through his knees, and she lifted the end of the staff to tangle his legs and send shocks of pain up his knees and into his hips.

"Ahh!" he yelped, and he tried to struggle out of the situation. But he couldn't move his legs, and what made it worse was that she sat on his thighs, so he literally couldn't move without causing himself any more pain than that of that he was feeling.

Seeing that there was no way of getting out of this, he banged his fist against the floor. "I give up!"

"Already?" Raph laughed, grinning in amusement as Crystal stood up off of Donnie and removed the Bo from his legs. She dropped it and bowed to him as a sign of a good match, and then she straightened back up again. Donnie could see a small smile on her face.

"You think this is funny, huh?" Donnie huffed, getting up.

She smiled at him more sincerely, and then made it disappear in a flash. Donnie smiled and picked up his staff, and then went to the sidelines where Mikey was just now waking up from his knockout. Mikey saw Donnie limping, and he grinned from ear to ear.

"You got beat, too?" he laughed.

Donnie waved a hand at him, sitting down next to him. "Yeah, yeah… shut up and let's just watch the rest."

Raph cracked his knuckles, grinning at the girl in the ring as he stood up. He loved a good fight, and he was anxious to get started. He walked up into the ring, taking out his Sais. Crystal looked at them, and remembered that night when she had run away only five years ago. She had taken one of them with her, and she remembered how bad she had felt afterward. But since then, she and the brothers, and Splinter, had grown much closer together. Now she had no intentions of leaving, any time soon.

She watched as Raph twirled the Sais in is hands, and he really didn't look her in the eyes. There was something in his light green orbs that didn't look right, looked almost nervous.

In fact, he was. Just like Mikey and Donnie, and even Leo would be, he was nervous about engaging in combat with her. He… couldn't find it in his heart to hurt her. But then again, if she could beat Mikey and Donnie, then maybe she could take fighting him. He wouldn't go so hard on her.

So he smiled at her confidently, and she nodded in return. He bowed to her, and she bowed to him. Then they approached one another. He held his Sais in his fist.

"Okay, I know you beat the other two wimps without using your weapon. I want to see what you have." he demanded, smiling at her in a confident fashion.

Crystal thought over that. Raph was a very cocky fighter, but she had to admit, he was a great warrior. It would probably be wise to use her weapons. So, she reached to her belt. On her belt were two pockets, one on each side of her hip. She pulled out two objects from each pocket, and she brought them to her sides. Then she opened them. Raph's eyes widened slightly. She held two fans, one black and one white. He grinned. How was this going to be a challenge? Fans against Sais? He could tear them things to shreds!

She then ran at him, and he ran toward her. She tossed the white fan, and it spun as it cut through the air, and as he listened, he heard the sound of blade. He gasped and ducked, and the fan flew over his head, and then it spun back around and came back like a boomerang. She caught it with ease, and while he was still kneeled down, she jumped, pushing one foot off the back of his shell and landing behind him.

"Whoa! Nice!" he laughed, turning around to meet her gaze once more. But suddenly, his eyes softened and actually widened in amazement.

She held the fans in front of her face, and she waved them slightly, creating a vibrating, hypnotizing illusion. She fanned the air, crossing white over black and black over white, repeating and actually making him dizzy. He blinked his eyes, in a trance as he watched the effects of the lighting on the fans. They reminded him of the Yin-Yang symbol. But he blinked, trying to pull himself out of the trance, but yet his mind still became engulfed with fascination of the patterns she created. He kept telling himself to snap out of it, but nothing seemed to work.

Just as he was becoming drunk from the show, she had ended it and he was hit in the gut, sent backwards and onto his shell. He was in a horrible daze, and he was seeing black and white dots everywhere.

"Good, manipulation can come in quite handy in certain situations." Splinter spoke, admiring the show Crystal had created. She had stuck to the fans as soon as she held them. She had been inspired by April's fan that Splinter had given her, and once she started using them, she became attached, and she grew to be natural with them.

Raph shook his head, hoping to clear his thoughts. "Not helping, Sensei…" But he couldn't clear his sight away of the blinking dot, so he just dropped his head back onto the floor.

"I… think he's done…" Donnie said, walking up to his brother and dragging him back to the sidelines.

Leo closed his eyes for a moment, and then stood up. He was actually quite shocked that Crystal had seriously just beaten his three brothers, and was much more curious if she could actually beat him. He was the only one of the four turtles who had actually had a chance to match Splinter. There had been very few, but sure, occasions when he had blocked his attacks or even laid a hit on his master during training. But those had been lucky shots… If Crystal had beaten Raph, Donnie and Mikey, then was it possible that she could just as easily win against him? The question that was much more concerning was: Did she have a chance against Splinter?

Then again… why should he be worried? She had been watched and taught by himself, his brothers, and Splinter all together. So of course she'd be quite good at fighting, considering that she had studied all kinds of fighting styles in her life. She was a good listener, so she could have picked up things that they didn't even teach her intentionally.

Crystal held her fans in front of her chest, her eyes slightly narrowed at him. He focused his gaze on her weapons for a minute, studying and listing all the many ways she could use them in this battle. She had thrown Raph off enough to actually cause him to lose the fight. What else could she do with them? He'd just have to find out.

So he slid his katanas from his shell and readied himself. He was calm, studying her actions and waiting for her to make her move. If she didn't show any sign of taking action, then he'd make one himself. When she did nothing, he waved one of his katanas and ran forward.

When they started their combat, April walked in. She strolled over to the boys at the sidelines, smiling in sheer amusement and trying to keep her composure as she figured out what had exactly happened. She sat down beside Donnie, with him having more sense than the other two at the moment he'd be easier to talk to.

"So, rough time?" she guessed, although she already knew.

Donnie nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah… she's pretty skilled, but then Splinter trained her, and she was a good listener so-,"

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Donnie asked, blinking at her.

"You're rambling on and on." she giggled, hugging her knees as she watched the show. Crystal was knocked back, but she shook her head and came back. "She is good…"

Donatello nodded in agreement, smiling as he let his eyes dart from his brother to the girl. He saw her fans actually flip out into blades, and she was blocking Leo's attacks, creating sparks and loud _clang _sounds. Crystal switched foot positions, putting her dominant foot in front of the other before she clashed her fans with Leo's swords again. Then, she twirled her fan around one of the swords, loosening the grip and then flinging it out of his hand and out onto the sidelines. Leo frowned, and gripped the sword he still held in both of his hands.

When they clashed again, he pushed her back and was about to slip a foot behind her feet to trip her. But she jumped, landing with both of her feet on top of his head and making him fall forward onto the ground. She jumped off and landed behind him. He stood back up and spun around to face her. He ran at her again, and swung his sword again. But she jumped straight up, and suddenly there was a weight on the end of his katana. He grunted, and looked up. She stood with one foot in front of another, her arms out for balance. Then she jumped, did a back flip and letting her foot catch him under the chin and send him staggering back until he fell onto his rear.

She landed back on the floor and put her fans on her belt pockets. Leo shook his head, rubbing his chin and clicking his jaw together a few times to get the numb feeling to go away. Then he stood back up, took a bow, and smiled at her.

"Nice, Crystal, you've gotten too good!" he laughed, and she smiled as he walked to the sidelines.

Whoa… did she just beat Leo? The same Leonardo who is the eldest of the four brothers, master of ninjutsu, an actual ninja? How did she manage that?! Something touched her shoulders and she looked at Splinter's hand and softly gripped her. He smiled at her before looking at the boys and April.

"Well done, all of you. Now, do you feel ready to try your skills against my own, Crystal?"

She smiled. "Yes, Sensei!"

He chuckled, and then walked to the other side of the ring. She felt her body tremble in excitement and she strolled over toward her own spot. She couldn't believe that she had beaten the others. It was a miracle! As she passed her brothers and April, she caught part of a conversation.

"You know," Donnie was saying quietly. "If she beats Sensei, she might not need us or Splinter!"

"Ya got a point, there." Leo replied, nodding. "I'm surprised that she beat us like that, but I don't think that she would be able to beat Splinter. None of us had ever done so before."

Mikey giggled, grinning as he pointed at the red-masked turtle. "Yeah, I actually can't believe she beat you, Raph!"

Raph glared at him, now out of his daze and coming back to reality. "Shut up! I have no clue how that happened!"

"Well, the patterns of the fans may have caused your brain to mix up the movement patterns. So since there is a part in your eyes that actually reflects things upside down, maybe-,"

Raph rolled his eyes. "Can it!"

Crystal didn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation after what Donnie said at first. _She won't need them anymore? _But… what would she do without them? She did beat her brothers, but… if she beats Splinter, then would that mean that she would have to leave? Because she didn't need them anymore, and could take care of herself? She knew that they had taken her in, and that they were teaching her how to fight and defend herself. But what would happen if they had taught her everything they knew?

She stopped walking, having reached her spot. She faced Splinter, a calm look on her face while mentally she cringed. What if she won? What next? If she left the sewers to live somewhere else, where would she go? What would she do? How would she do without her brothers and Splinter?

While she was in the middle of her thoughts, she became unconscious of the world, not with her body so to say, but in her mind, she had no clue what was going on. So she didn't see when Splinter ran up to her with his staff and swung it. He had expected her to try to dodge or pull of some other kind of move like she had with her brothers, but she didn't. Instead, when the staff made contact with her small body, she was snapped back into reality and was sent sliding across the floor, rolling once or twice. One of her fans slipped out of her pockets, and went clattering on the floor before she went still.

_Oh no…! _Splinter gasped and dropped the staff. He ran over to the girl, the turtles and April right behind him.

"Crystal! Young one, are you alright?" he asked, but she was already trying to stand and get to her feet before he even got to her.

"I-I'm fine!" she coughed weakly, pushing herself up with her arms.

Splinter, with worry filling his hazel eyes, frowned with concern. "Are you sure? I didn't mean to hit you so hard. I shouldn't have rushed you into this so soon."

She shook her head, and when he looked closer, he could see tears pricking the edges of her blue eyes. Her frown was sure, but depression was etched in her features. He wanted to comfort her, to apologize again, but she waved a hand at him and stood up straight.

"I'm okay, don't worry… I just… need to be alone, Sensei…" she said quickly, and then she turned around and almost ran out of the dojo.

"Crystal!" Raph said softly, and he was about to follow her but instead stopped himself.

Splinter gazed after her with worry and guilt. He really didn't mean to be so rough. It was just a habit to be a bit harder, because of the way he trained the boys. He hadn't considered being easier on the girl, seeing that he had trained her the same way he had as the turtles. The look on her face… was she in pain? Did he hurt her enough to make her almost cry and want to be alone? Surely not, she was a strong kid. But still… that guilty thought that he had done so still roamed in his mind.

Mikey looked at the doorway where his little sister had disappeared. "Whoa… What's wrong with her?"

Raph growled at him and glared, blurting out without really thinking. "Wouldn't you be mad if someone hit you with a stick, Mikey?"

The youngest turtle frowned. "Um… I dunno."

Donnie rolled his eyes, grabbing his staff from his shell and giving Mikey a good whack on the back of the head, making the younger brother yelp and slap his hands over the top of his head. He glared at Donatello, but the purple-masked ninja only grinned innocently. Raph slightly smiled in amusement, giving Donnie a weak high-five. April giggled, making Donnie blush slightly.

"Guys, shut up!" Leonardo hissed, and the others looked at Splinter. He hadn't moved from his position, and he stared at his staff on the floor where he had dropped it. They quieted down, and actually felt a little guilty of what they had said so loudly in front of him.

Leo sighed and looked at his father. "Sensei… you didn't mean to. She was probably just… startled."

Splinter sighed deeply, a gloomy and cloudy look in his eyes. "No… she wasn't 'just startled'. There was something deeper that was wrong." Then he walked away, not even bothering with picking up his staff. The four turtle brothers and girl stared after him silently.

The mutant rat looked at the floor as he walked. How could he have been so blind? It had been obvious that something had been bothering her when she had walked up onto the ring with him. But why had he not noticed it before? She had grown quite professional at hiding her emotions, but he could always see that something was wrong. Maybe it was because she had looked so much like she had with Mikey before she ducked at his attack, blank and emotionless. But either way, he still couldn't believe that he didn't sense that something was wrong.

He came to Raph's room where, even after all of these years, she still slept. He knocked on the wall, looking through the doorway. She was sitting on the bed, her knees brought up to her chest and her face buried in her arms. He heard her sobbing, and his heart sunk when he heard her soft little cries.

"Crystal… May I come in?" he spoke softly. He heard a muffled "Yes", so he entered slowly.

She was already wiping her eyes, blinking rapidly as she tried to hide the evidence of tears. But she could hide the fact that her cheeks were flushed and her eyes red. Splinter looked down for a moment before he sat on the bed beside her.

"Sensei, you don't have to say anything. It was my fault, I zoned out during a training session. You don't need to be so worried." she suddenly began to ramble on, and he listened to her without saying anything. He watched her features, and detected something out of place. He knew that she had been crying, but he knew that something else was bothering her.

"Crystal," he said, making her pause and look at him with large eyes. "I know that you do not want me to bother you. But… I cannot shake the feeling that there is something more that has to do with this situation."

Crystal was about to protest, but Donnie's words echoed in her mind again. She looked down at her feet, biting her bottom lip to try to force her emotions to stay controlled. But tears began to slip down her cheeks again, and she held her breath to keep from sobbing. But before she could stop herself, she had bent down on her knees and was crying all over again. Splinter suddenly had a flashback, of his daughter Miwa. He remembered whenever Miwa cried when she was a baby. It wasn't a sad sound, one that he never wanted to hear. Not really sure of any other way to react, he leaned toward Crystal, picking her up and pulling her close to him. He began to rock back and forth.

"Tell me…please… What has been bothering you? Why are you so upset?" Splinter tried again, softly rubbing her back to calm her.

She sniffled, curling up in his lap and looking at her hands. "I don't wanna leave…"

He raised a brow at her curiously. "Why would you ever think that you would leave?"

"Well…" she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Donnie said that if I beat you, then I might not need you or them anymore. Wouldn't that mean that I would have to leave? I don't wanna leave you…"

Splinter's eyes widened slightly. That was what was wrong? Why hadn't she asked him about it before? So… she thought that if she beat him, then she'd have to leave because she'd been taught everything she needed to know… What were the boys talking about then? He sighed softly, smiling.

"No, as long as you are part of this family, you will never be forced to leave. If you want to in the future, you may. But, you are so young, not even a teenager yet." As he explained, she looked up at him with glossy eyes, her lip stuck out ever so slightly but it was noticeable that she was trying to not cry.

"But what if you teach me everything you know?" she asked quietly.

He chuckled warmly. "Young one, you still have much… no, a LOT to learn before you become even close to my level of fighting."

She tilted her head. "But… I beat my brothers, Sensei. What level are you at?"

He laughed, actually laughed and she blinked at him in confusion. She hadn't seen him truly laugh in a long while, and she almost smiled if she hadn't been so clueless as to why he was laughing in the first place.

"Crystal, your brothers were going easy on you. You did not notice the change in their fighting styles?"

Her eyes widened, and she looked down. So… she didn't exactly win? In her mind, she didn't win unless her opponent gave it their all. It actually kind of disappointed her, knowing that she still had a long ways to go before she was even as strong as her brothers. April was even better… She just hadn't practiced in a while. She then looked at him, and was now actually overjoyed that she was still not ready to face the world.

He looked back at her curiously. "What is it?"

She thought for a moment, considering her words before she meekly smiled at him. "Um… can I ask you something?"

He smiled, nodding. "Of course, young one. Anything."

She sighed, and then looked down. "Um… I know that I've always called you 'Sensei' and 'Splinter'… but…"

He lifted a brow at her, a calm and soft expression on his face. "Hm?"

She was quiet for a moment, emotions of a few kinds flickering on her face as she thought of her question. He tilted his head, almost urging her to continue.

"Can I call you…Dad?"

There was now silence between the rat and child. He was caught completely off by the question. Indeed, she had all these years called him by his name, Splinter, and Sensei. Mentally, because of his fatherly instinct and because of the way he had taken care of the boys, he even still considered himself to be her adopted father. His sons had never asked him if they could call him father. They usually used 'Sensei' or 'Splinter' as well, but they knew that he was their adopted father. It was odd, but yet he felt touched. He knew that she loved him, but when she asked if she could call him by her father, then… it just… It felt like a hole in his heart was beginning to fill up. He knew that he never had a chance to raise his daughter, Miwa. And even though he also considered April part of the family, it was quite different when you have actually raised a child from infant, when you held the child and cared for it as your own for such many years. Used to, whenever he looked into Crystal's face, he could see Miwa's. Now… he could see Crystal.

And he couldn't help but smile, and he nodded slowly at her.

"You may call me anything you want, my daughter." he said softly, almost doubting that he would ever be able to say those words. It felt odd, but in a good way. He felt that he had a chance again to be a father. He knew that he had raised his sons, and he loved them very much. But it was different with Crystal. He couldn't quite explain it.

Crystal smiled brightly, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and clenching her eyes shut. "Okay… thanks, Dad…"

He hugged her back. "For what?"

"For accepting me…" she mumbled.

"I am honored to have you in our family. Are you sure that you are not hurt?"

She smiled, and nodded as a sign that she was fine. There was a long silence between them, and they enjoyed that peacefulness until a certain voice broke through the air and separated them.

"So, is everything good now?" Mikey piped, peeking around the corner with a hopeful smile, but was pulled back by a hand and he disappeared out of the doorway.

Crystal giggled, and she grinned at her father. "Can we go back to training now?"

He smiled at her. "Of course. Oh!" He pulled something out from his sleeve, and held it out to her. Her face lit up and she took the white fan out of his hand and clutched it close to her chest.

"Yang!" she cried out happily, smiling with joy as she hugged her fan.

He blinked in curiosity. "Yang?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I named my fans Yin and Yang!"

He chuckled at her exclamation and picked up as he stood back up, and then left the room to go back to the dojo with her on his shoulders.

**I mainly wanted to show a little more of a bond between Crystal and Splinter… Not exactly my best work, but I can live with it.**


End file.
